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墨書 Inktalez
Chen Ruolan clicked her tongue in reproach and said, "Yuan Er is still here; you all should take your games inside."
Yu Chunmiao replied, "Mother, are you misunderstanding? We aren't playing at all." Fortunately, Qi Yuan didn't understand and looked at his mother with confusion. Qi Chong understood, sitting down obediently as Yu Chunmiao began to share her plans.
Before the hour of Shen, a large crowd had already gathered under the canopy of the Banyan Tree. Their eyes frequently turned towards the direction of the Qi Family. The village chief, Gao Changfa, stood on a platform in the center of the tree, seemingly lost in thought while puffing on his pipe. Some children were playing with the roots of the Banyan Tree, while a few older kids had climbed onto the Loquat Tree Stump to sit.
The young couple arrived right on time and stood at the back of the crowd. "Qi Family's sons, come forward," Gao Changfa called out. The villagers willingly parted to create a path for them, and as soon as they stepped into the crowd, it closed around them again, as if to trap them.
Though it was the village chief who was presiding over the gathering, all eyes were on the couple. They shared a certain understanding and remained silent. The children sensed something was off and stopped their play.
Gao Changfa no longer resembled his previous visit to the Qi Family; he looked stern and authoritative. Clearing his throat, he said, "Everyone here is a native of Beishan Village. Our village is mostly mountainous with little arable land; a family of three can only manage two mu of land. It's tough—each year we have to pay five hundred wen per person as head tax, which is unbearable."
"In just a month, officials from the Yamen will come again. Raise your hand if your family can't pay this year's tax." Almost everyone raised their hands except for Qi Chong and Wang Butcher. Zhang Guihua also kept her hand down; women are exempt from head tax for three years. Of course, once they have men in their households, they must pay.
Gao Changfa spoke with a heavy heart: "Some families have been delayed for two years already. What will happen if they can't pay again this year? They will have to serve forced labor. This year's labor is in the north; I hear they are building a stone wall to keep out the northern barbarians."
"Chief, that means there's no way out for us! Just getting there takes half a year; after serving three months of labor, how can we return home? Our fields will be left untended!"
"Yes," another voice chimed in. "It's August now; it gets colder as we go north. I've heard that in the north, water freezes into ice; will we even survive to come back?"
"Chief, please help us find a way out!"
Yu Chunmiao began to panic. She wasn't afraid of being forced because she had her own ways to cope. But this felt like being killed with a soft knife—an attack on their very hearts!
The village chief sighed and said, "What can I do? If I had money, I would help you pay the taxes, but I simply can't afford it."
At that moment, someone in the crowd looked at Qi Chong and Yu Chunmiao.
A voice rang out from the crowd, "The Qi Family has a way! They’ve made quite a bit of money. They deposited eight hundred taels at Da Sheng Bank two months ago!"
The villagers were astonished; although they had heard it before, hearing it again still surprised them.
Qi Chong turned to look for the source of the voice but couldn't find the speaker.
The village chief pretended to ask Qi Chong, "Qi Daizi, is this true?"
Qi Chong stood there, noncommittal, and coldly replied, "What does it have to do with you?"
"How can you be so heartless? It's not like we're asking you to give us money; we just want a way to earn it. There’s so much money in the world; can your Qi Family earn it all?"
Yu Chunmiao thought to himself that this was bad. Gao Changfa, that old fox, was trying to shift the villagers' resentment onto the Qi Family.
Even if they didn’t expose Fang Zi today, the village chief could retreat unscathed. However, any hint of compassion from the Qi Family had vanished. After all, as the saying goes, how can one repay kindness with enmity?
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